Camping Plaque

 This is a Sue Mey Pattern I modified to have our last name rather than Welcome. Pattern is available here Happy Campers. It is cut from baltic birch plywood 1/4" for the backer and 1/8" for the design. I have used two finishes on this which I usually don't do. I put my favorite Watco Natural Danish Oil. Then after a few days I put Bullseye Shellac on since this will be outside when we are camping. I figure chances are greater it might get damp and might  as well put it on.

The logo I put on with my 3500mw Neje laser engraver. Which I love since it is customized for every use. I just have to modify the graphic with the month year and let it run. I can choose just about any size up to 5.9" (150mm). It is a cheap laser engraver not a cutter so it works for how I use it. I set this one for 3 inches when I printed it. 

Back

Front

Thanks for looking

Jim

When you can't buy you print

We bought a Fifth Wheell RV and while the RV is nice. Space is a premium. 

So in the bathroom the counter is very small and what do you do with a bar of soap. We looked everywhere for a simple small soap dish. It is just something that you can't find. Oh there are plenty of fancy expensive bar soap dishes but they are all quite large and just not what we wanted.

So what the heck. Just print one up on the 3D Printer. You get everything you want. Size shape and colors.

Base

Top

Both Together

Simple "off the cuff" tray bird feeder

I just threw this together for my wife. It is just a quick and dirty tray bird feeder. I made it from wood I get from a shipping company down the block from my job. So other then the screws and screening this was a cheap build. Not all that much thought went into it. I did not want to make any hard joints so since I was building in in two layers and putting screening between them the joins are just offset. I actually used a tool that almost never gets used. I bought a biscuit cutter many moons ago and almost never find a reason to use it. This was the perfect job for it. as I was just butting the wood up against each other. So the bottom later is join with biscuits.

So steps was measure the wood lengths I had and decide what length and width to make the frame.. Ended up 1-1/2 inches wide by 14 inches long. 

1) Cut wood to width and length in the table saw.

2) Cut the biscuit slots where I was joining the wood  on the bottom layer.

3) Glue up the bottom frame

4) Cut the legs at 45 degree angles 3 inches long and attach them with 2 screws each

5) Staple the screening on the bottom frame

6) Screw on the top pieces.

 And done.....

Some pics from the build.

Using my custom made frame jig to glue up the bottom.

Legs and screening attached

Top part now screwed on and it is completed

Showing the simple legs I made for this as this will be a ground feeder.

Thanks for looking!

Jim

Something New!

Well I finally have made something from the tree I had cut down last year. I saved a bunch of wood hoping to make something from it one day. Well I started hunting through the stuff I have been seasoning and I cut up a small branch and using both a small hand saw and my small band saw I cut some small boards from it. After getting the hang of how to cut boards I ended up with a couple 3/4" thick ones. It took a couple of try's to figure out how to cut them straight on the band saw. It is small so I can only do 4 1/2 inch high boards but it worked out eventually. For bigger ones It would be more wasteful as I will have to use my chain saw and then planer to get some thin boards.

But this is what I managed to get out of the branch on my first attempt. The next one will yield more boards.

Then I came up with this pattern and sized it for one of the boards and this is the finished product. I used my favorite Natural Danish Oil. I also have finally used my laser burner to put my logo on the backer board. SO this is a live edge on one side and I like how it came out..

So I have at least been successful in using the wood from the really old oak tree that needed to come down last year.

Kind of interesting color and grain.

Thanks for looking

Jim

New tool

I picked up a Neje laser engraver to sign my work. This will be much improved over using my inkjet printer and wax paper. That was always prone to slipping and being smudged. Which I then would have to sand off. This laser engraver can do just shy of 6" square.  I made a few test runs tonight trying to figure out the best settings for power of the laser and speed. I have a good set of numbers for slow printing. I will see if I can find anything that will work under the fast mode.

This is so much better and easier then using my inkjet with wax paper.

Jim